Star Hedonist - Chapter 25: Close and Personal

He’s her stepbrother, her sin and her biggest mistake waiting to happen.Catherine Brown thought moving in with her mother’s new husband couldn’t be harder until she met the cold, arrogant and sinfully attractive Julian Vaughn, her stepbrother.He hates her, teases her and gets under her skin everyday. He’s everything she should stay away from, off-limits and untouchable.But when his anger turns into something darker and hungrier, when he looks at her like he wants to ruin her innocence, Catherine realizes danger has a new name.And no matter how hard she tries, she can’t stop wanting the one man she’s not supposed to have.When hate turns to desire, who’s really in control?EXCERPT✨“You’ve never had sex before?” Julian asked, disbelief flickering in his eyes.Catherine hesitated, then nodded, staring at the floor instead of him.He bit his lower lip, trying to rein in the thoughts crowding his mind. Goodness, she was too innocent for her own good.“So all you did with your previous boyfriends were just kisses and smooches?”She immediately stood, her cheeks flushed. “There are no boyfriends,” she blurted. “I’ve never even been kissed. Please don’t laugh at me.”Laugh? Hell no. Julian wasn’t laughing. He was fighting the urge to pull her close. Knowing she’d never been touched only made his hunger worse.She didn’t realize he’d moved until his breath brushed her ear, his voice dropping low and dangerous.“Catherine, just say the word and I’ll show you what it means to be touched by a man.”Her heart stuttered in her chest and he could hear every beat.

Ye Qinghan, young master of the powerful Ye Family, gets ostracized when his peerless father meets an unfortunate end. Lacking strength and in a bid to live a Purposeful life, he suffers through the unending ridicule, bullying and torture dealt to him at each turn. However fate is a cruel mistress and offers only pain and misery with no end in sight. Broken, weak and distraught, Ye Qinghan embarks on a journey to usurp the hands of fate and attain strength to protect his own.

In her previous life, Jiang Yan's mother was murdered by her stepfather under the guise of celebrating their wedding anniversary with a trip abroad, and Jiang Yan herself, holding a huge inheritance, was locked by him in the basement of a villa and had one of her hands mangled. As natural disasters became more frequent and the apocalypse descended, the stepfather's family, hiding in the villa waiting for the apocalypse to pass, ultimately set their sights on Jiang Yan...With the opening of her eyes, Jiang Yan was reborn three months before the apocalypse. After activating her portable Space and successfully taking her revenge, she, now in possession of a massive amount of funds, started a global shopping spree: yachts, helicopters, off-road RVs, weapons, amphibious boats, necessities for clothing, food, shelter, and transport; everything from five-star delicacies to tasty street food hidden in remote corners... she bought and hoarded them all, bringing everything into her Space!Seeing that there was only one month left, Jiang Yan began a cramming-style learning binge: shooting! Flying planes! Driving boats! Hand-to-hand combat! Agricultural Planting! She even learned how to operate an excavator from the Red Xiang Technical School!In July, a double typhoon that caused seawater backflow starting from Japan marked the beginning of the apocalypse. A super high temperature wave followed right after, sweeping across the globe, along with torrential rains, earthquakes, pest infestations, extreme cold, nuclear contamination, mutation of animals and plants... one natural calamity after another ensued!While others fought over a packet of instant noodles or half a bottle of water, Jiang Yan was leisurely planting vegetables, raising fish, sitting comfortably in her safe house with air conditioning on, and enjoying her hot pot meal~PS. This entire story is fictitious.

Qiao Nan: Crap! I am your biological daughter, yet I am treated as if I was picked up from the streets. In fact, you treat me worse than that!

Mother Qiao: Qiao Nan, you are not as pretty or smart as your elder sister. You are not as blessed as her. You have no right to study, marry, or to have your happiness!

Qiao Nan: Why am I not allowed to study, marry, or to seek my happiness? I will find a man right now and marry him!

Qiao Nan is dumbstruck upon discovering that the man right beside her is a powerful figure in the quad—the person who has the most promising prospects to be the future Chief.

Qiao Nan stares at the well-built man in front of her. He has firm abs and cold, chilling eyes. She swallows the lump in her throat as she says her greetings, “Good Morning, Chief!”